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MARIJUANA DECISION CREATES MORE CHAOS

Madam Justice Louise Charron, newly installed Supreme Court of Canada judge, showed herself to be bereft of common sense. This conclusion is based on her decision in July 2000, along with Justices Marc Rosenberg and Marvin Catzman, members of the Ontario Court of Appeal, who without a scintilla of evidence to support their conclusion, ordered that marijuana be made available for those requiring its use for medical reasons. They claimed the drug caused relatively little harm. There were not then, and are not now, credible studies that indicate that marijuana serves any genuine medical purposes.

Disaster after disaster has piled up since this bizarre decision. The then Minister of Justice, Allan Rock, instead of sensibly appealing this silly decision, fell all over himself setting up the federal government as a grower of marijuana in an abandoned copper mine in Flin Flon, Manitoba. The crop produced by the contractor, Prairie Plant Systems, at a cost to the government of $5.75 million was inferior, and could not be used to carry out studies to determine once and for all whether marijuana has any medical value. Nor was the crop much good for the twitchy "medical" users who were to be supplied with the drug. Over a third of those receiving the government marijuana returned the product because it contained "only" 5.1% of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana), rather than the 10.2% claimed by Health Canada.

A second batch of marijuana grown under the government contract was shipped out on May 21, 2004 to the seventy government-licensed marijuana users at a cost to each of $150 plus GST for a 30-gram bag. Forty-seven other licensed marijuana users have been given government seeds to grow their own marijuana. A further 600 Canadians have been given permission to grow their own marijuana from other black market seeds, or to have designated growers cultivate it for them. The recipients of the government-supplied marijuana, however, have raised objections to this second government crop, claiming it, too, is an inferior product.

Unfortunately, the ill-considered opinion of Madam Justice Charron and the two other judges has also circumvented standard drug safety protocols, i.e. patient safety and testing. The judgment also ignored alternatives such as the drug in pill form. Thus, the decision has exposed marijuana users to medical and psychological risks.

There are serious side effects to marijuana use. Dr. Harold Kalant, Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology and Pathological Chemistry, University of Toronto, and Director Emeritus of Behavioral Research, who is an international authority on drug dependency with specific expertise on marijuana, has listed some of the problems with marijuana use (CanWest Publications Inc., March 8, 2004):

  • Children born to women who smoked marijuana while pregnant face an increased risk of cancer.


  • People infected with immune-suppressing HIV or AIDS may also find that smoking marijuana further impairs their immune systems.


  • Marijuana has been found to be a potent trigger for heart attacks. THC causes blood vessels to relax, which in turn can lower blood pressure decreasing blood flow to the heart, which is dangerous for those who already suffer from restricted blood flow to the heart.


  • Marijuana may also cause a hear attack by causing plaque inside the artery to rupture and form a clot which can block blood flow to the heart.


  • Regular pot use can lead to male infertility.


  • The drug may also fuel the growth of cancerous tumours.


  • Marijuana has been linked to anxiety and panic attacks even in first-time users. Research is also incriminating pot in increased risk of depression.

Dr. Barry Dworkin, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa, provides a list of further side effects of marijuana use (Ottawa Citizen, Sept. 9, 2003):

  • More than five joints a week can impair brain functions, such as learning, memory and intelligence.


  • Individuals who test positive for THC are more often involved in fatal traffic accidents.


  • Marijuana is physically addictive after 21 days of use. The withdrawal symptoms after 21 days include irritability, agitation, depression, insomnia, nausea, loss of appetite and the "shakes." These symptoms peak in 48 hours and last five to seven days.


  • Marijuana tar content is four times greater than tobacco, and contains 50% more cancer causing chemicals. Inhaling from a joint of marijuana delivers almost twice as much smoke, inhalation time lasts one-third longer, and breath holding is four times longer than cigarette smoking.


  • Daily smoking by young women causes a five-fold increase in depression and anxiety.


  • Marijuana reduces testosterone levels and causes impotence, impaired sex drive, and breast development (gynecomastia) in males. Infertility in males is a risk because of a reduction in sperm counts and sperm motility.

Liberals Refuse to Enforce Law

The Liberal government under Prime Minister Paul Martin, continues to refuse to enforce the current law restricting marijuana use. As a result, according to a Statistics Canada report published in 2002, an estimated 12.2% of Canadians admit smoking marijuana - up from 6.5% since 1989. That is, marijuana use has doubled with the highest rates among teenagers. Because of the failure to enforce the law against marijuana, more and more are using it.

In July 2004 Prime Minister Martin announced that, once Parliament opens in October, he will revive the Liberals' controversial legislation to decriminalize marijuana possession of up to 15 grams. This makes no sense at all.

Please write to the following, objecting to the proposed decriminalization of marijuana:

The Right Hon. Paul Martin, PC, MP
Prime Minister of Canada
Langevin Building
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
Tel: (613) 992-4211
Fax: (613) 941-6900
E-mail: Martin.P@parl.gc.ca

The Hon. Irwin Cotler, PC, MP
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Justice Canada
East Memorial Building,
4th Floor, 284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0H8
Tel: (613) 992-4621
Fax: (613) 990-7255
E-mail: Cotler.I@parl.gc.ca

Your MP
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

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